1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of product handling. In particular the invention relates to an apparatus for transferring individual objects from a delivery conveyor to segments or pockets in a receiving conveyor. Although it is not so limited the device has found particular use in the transferring of food products, such as candy bars, which are deposited on a delivery conveyor at random fashion. Certain candy bar wrapping equipment must be fed bars at a perdetermined spacing determined by pockets on a wrapper feed conveyor. The invention is particularly suited to filling the pockets on the wrapper feed conveyor with individual bars and is able to discriminate between undersized bars, oversized bars, and properly sized bars and transfer only the properly sized bars.
2. Prior Art
Previously the transferring of candy bars to pockets on a wrapper feed conveyor was done manually.
Several U.S. patents illustrate some of the prior devices for transferring objects from a delivery conveyor. The Jenney et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,269, illustrates an apparatus for sequentially transferring biscuits which interrupt a series of photocells to trigger a series of corresponding air jets to sequentially remove the biscuits from a feed conveyor and place them in a series of adjacent slots leading to transverse conveyors. The Calhoun U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,012, illustrates a device for effecting a lateral transfer to a second conveyor by extending and retracting slats on a third, parallel conveyor. The Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,871, illustrates a controlled lateral transfer between parallel conveyors of objects by the interruption of photocells which through a control circuit operates a transfer mechanism. The control circuit determines when to activate the transfer mechanism by determining when the center of the object meets the center of the transfer mechanism. The Molins U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,189, illustrates an apparatus for handling rod shaped articles such as cigarettes and transferring them in multiple unit transfers.